At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman at her swearing-in ceremony in 2015. (Photo by Adam Fagen)

Incumbent At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman released a poll that indicates she is the leading non-Democratic candidate running for one of the two citywide seats, a show of popularity after Mayor Muriel Bowser recently endorsed her challenger.

This November, there are two open seats for At-large councilmembers, one of which is reserved for a non-Democrat. The Democratic incumbent, Anita Bonds, is widely expected to be reelected.

Bowser waded into the race last week to issue her support for independent Dionne Reeder, who is seeking to unseat Silverman.

In addition to Silverman, Reeder, and Bonds, voters will also see Republican Ralph Chittams, Libertarian Denise Hicks, Statehood Green David Schwartzman, and independent Rustin Lewis on the ballot.

In the poll conducted by Public Policy Polling earlier this week, 37 percent of the 598 likely voters said that their first vote would go to Bonds, and 24 percent said that they would first choose Silverman.

In third place, with 23 percent, is the “not sure” slot. Reeder came in fourth with 7 percent.

Reeder did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bill Lightfoot, Bowser’s reelection campaign manager, says that the poll “confirms what we’ve known all along—it’s very difficult to beat an incumbent.”

Silverman calls the results “very heartening,” adding that “voters want an independent voice on the Council who’s not a rubber stamp for the mayor.”

The poll shows that the mayor’s opinion on the candidates doesn’t impact the majority of voters—52 percent of respondents didn’t think an endorsement from Bowser would make a difference in their vote for an at-large candidate. Nearly a quarter, or 24 percent, said it would make them more likely to vote for a candidate, and 18 percent said it would make them less likely.

Lightfoot says that the results show that “in a close election, the mayor’s endorsement may make a difference. But it has to be a close election, and right now it’s not.”

This is the first time the mayor has backed a council challenger, though her endorsement of incumbents has not always ended in electoral success. She is running for reelection herself in November, and faces no credible challengers.

“The mayor believes that Elissa Silverman has more of a national agenda that might not be the best for D.C. residents,” Lightfoot told DCist last week. He specifically cited Silverman’s leadership in passing D.C.’s paid family leave legislation.

Both Bowser and Reeder say they support the notion of paid family leave, but object to the way Silverman has proposed implementing it. Reeder disagrees with the fact that non-D.C. residents, like people who work in the District but live in Maryland and Virginia, will benefit from the law.

“That means she doesn’t support paid family leave,” says Silverman. “The reason we had to structure it this way is because Congress prevents us from being able to tax Maryland and Virginia workers. The only way to have paid family leave is to do it this way. If [Reeder] wants to be honest with voters, she would say she doesn’t support it.”

And shepherding a paid family leave bill played well with the voters polled by PPP, 51 percent of whom said they’d be more likely to support a candidate who “was a leader in passing paid family leave legislation,” while 30 percent said it wouldn’t make a difference in their decision. Only 8 percent said it’d make them less likely to choose that candidate.

However, the paid family leave bill is unpopular among many prominent members of D.C.’s business community. After S. Kathryn Allen, a challenger with broad backing from the D.C. business community, was booted off the ballot after widespread signature fraud, many of her supporters turned to Reeder as the best chance to defeat Silverman.

Bowser said that Silverman was not “collaborative” on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, which Silverman also objects to.

“My door has been open for three years to talk about” the legislation, she says.

Still, Silverman says she stands with the mayor on certain issues, like ending homeless in the city. “I’ve disagreed about some policies where I feel like we were giving a lot of money toward special interests when that money should be going toward affordable housing and schools,” Silverman says.

Previously:
Bowser Publicly Steps Into At-Large Race For The First Time, Taking Aim At Sitting Councilmember
Mayor Bowser Snubs Elissa Silverman, Supports Dionne Reeder In At-Large Race
At-Large Challenger Booted Off The Ballot Over Allegations Of Signature Fraud
Claims Of Signature Fraud In The D.C. At-Large Race, Explained

PPP Survey Results At-large DC 9.26 by Rachel Kurzius on Scribd